Gum vending machine



D. NEIDIG GUM VENDING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 23. 1955 INVENTOR. jazz Naz'ci Oct. 28, 1958 D. NElDlG GUM VENDING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 23, 1953 111/ III jazz BY INVENTOR. N id '9 Qizfy Oct. 28,1958 D. NEIDlG 2,858,001

GUM VENDING MACHINE Filed 001;. 23, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

Jazz vez'a y Oct. 28, 1958 D. NEIDIG 2,858,001

cum VENDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25. 1953 '1 Sheets-Sheet 6 j Nmgnga y azz 6t 57 D. NElDlG GUM VENDING MACHINE Oct. 28, 1958 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Oct. 23, 1953 INVENTOR.

jazz United States Patent GUM VENDING MACHINE Dan Neithg, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Superior Mfg. Co., Evanston, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application October 23, 1953, Serial No. 387,827

Claims. (Cl. 19480) This invention relates to a gum vending machine and, more particularly, to a machine for vending different size packages of one or more kinds of gum. This invention can also be advantageously employed in machines for vending different size packages of other types of merchandise, such as candy, etc.

Separate machines have heretofore been employed for vending one cent and five cent packages of gum. In addition to the original cost of the two machines, there is the increased labor of servicing both machines, which has raised the question as to whether it is economically feasible to install and service two separate vending ma- .chines for one cent and five cent packages of gum.

It is, therefore, a general object of this invention to pro- "vide a machine for vending different size packages of the :same kind of gum or other merchandise. Another object -.is to provide a gum vending machine of the character inditcated, which is of substantially the same size and initial tcost as the presently employed machines for vending five cent packages of gum, yet being adapted to vend both tone cent and five cent packages of a plurality of kinds of ;gum. A more specific object is to provide a gum'vendting machine of the character described, in which a single toperating member or plunger is employed for each kind aof gum, and the dispensing of a one cent or five cent ;package of the particular kind of gum is automatically rCOIltIOllCi by the depositing of a one cent or five cent (com.

Still another object is to provide means actuated by athe deposited coins for releasing the machine, so that the toperating plungers are freed for the dispensing operation, which means cooperates with the means for automatically ::selecting a one cent or five cent package of the particular kind of gum.

Further objects and advantages will appear as the ::specification proceeds.

This invention is shown in an illustrative embodiment iiin the accompanying drawings, in which i Fig. 1 is a front, elevational view of the exterior of a gum vending machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2, a side elevational view of the exterior of the -..same gum vending machine;

Fig. 3, a plan viewof the exterior of the gum vending imachine;

Fig. 4, a front elevational view of the gum vending :machine with the front cover removed showing the interior mechanism; A

Fig. 5, a side elevational view of the interior mech- :anisrn;

Fig. 6, a sectional, plan view of the interior mechanism, @taken on line 66 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7, a fragmentary side view of the interior mecha- -lnism;

Fig. 8, a detailed operational view, showing operating "parts of Fig. 7 from the front and their relation to the operating shaft and other parts;

Fig. 9, a detailed, sectional, plan view, taken on line '9-9 of Fig. 7;

2,858,001 Patented Oct. 28, 1958 Fig. 10, a detailed view of the operating mechanism on the other side from the mechanism shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 11, an explanatory, perspective view, showing the relationship of the ejector tongues to the stacked packages of gum when the ejector tongues are withdrawn from beneath the stacks in the dispensing operation;

Fig. 12, another explanatory, operational View, showing the relationship of the operating plungers to the latch members for rendering the other plungers inoperative after the dispensing movement of one plunger has been started; and

Fig. 13, a perspective view of one of the operating plungers, showing some of the parts in separated relation.

Looking, first, at Figs. 1 to 3, there is shown a gum vending machine, having an exterior case A, which is equipped with a coin insertion slot 10, of sufficient size to receive either a one cent or five cent coin. As seen from its exterior, the gum vending machine is also provided with three operating members or plungers 11, for dispensing three different kinds of gum, and, as will be subsequently described, for dispensing one cent and five cent packages of each kind of gum from one of the operating plungers. There is also provided a coin ejector lever 12 of the usual type for use in returning the coin.

As seen in Fig. 4 and other views, particularly Fig. 6, the interior mechanism of the vending machine provides a plurality of pairs 13 and 14 of vertically extending gum storage chutes adapted to receive the same kind of gum or other merchandise but of different size packages. In the illustration given, the smaller size packages are stored in chutes 13, such as gum packages S, while the larger size packages are stored in chutes 14, such as packages L. Preferably, the smaller chutes are arranged side by side in front of the larger chutes as illustrated.

Means are associated with each of the chutes 13 and 14 for releasing the packages therefrom. In the illustration given, this consists of ejector tongues 15 associated with large chutes 14 and ejector tongues 16 associated with small chutes 13. Each ejector tongue is arranged to normally extend under the chute with which it is associated and is mounted to slide outwardly to open the bottom of the chute. For example, in the illustration given, shown more clearly in Fig. 6, this is accomplished by providing bedplate 17 with outwardly extending slots 18 beneath tongues 15 and with outwardly extending slots 19 beneath tongues 16. These slots guide the sliding movements of the ejector tongues by receiving screws 20 and 21, which are respectively connected to and extend downwardly from tongues 15 and 16. The forward position of the tongue members with relation to the stacked packages of gum is shown in Fig. 11.

The operating plungers 11 are also mounted for outward movement on bedplate 17 by means of slots 22, as indicated in Fig. 6, plates 23 being mounted to slide on top of bedplate 17 connected by screws through slots 22 to the plunger 11 below bedplate 17.

As indicated in Fig. 6, the plunger plates 23 have latch members 24 mounted thereon by means of rivets 25 extending through slots 26 in the latch members, slots 26 being aligned so that the latch members 24 slide between two positions transversely across the line of action of plungers 11. The ejector tongues 15 and 16 have their outer ends, respectively, provided with upwardly turned flanges 15a and 16a, comprising cooperating, interlocking means arranged to selectively interlock the latch members 24 with one tongue of the associated pair of tongues in each of the two positions of the latch mem her. For example, as illustrated in Fig. 6, latch members 24 are in the position in which they will engage flanges 16a for the dispensing of one cent packages of gum from small chutes 13, and this is the normal posi tion of the latch members. The means for normally l to receive one cent coins.

maintaining the latch members in this position will subsequently be discussed in detail. However, it will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 6, that when the latch members 24 are shifted toward ejector tongues that the forward or outward movement of plungers ll will then cause the latch members to interlock with flanges 15a and at the same time clear" flanges 16 1 so t "t ut rd mqvsms of h y Pl n e il sne c a package of gum from the large chute 14 associated with the particular plungen' Extending above plungers l1 and latch members 24 there is provided a selector plate 27, mounted for longitudinal movement between two positions across the latch members 24 on plungers ll. in the illustration given, selector plate 2'7 has its ends slidably received in side panels 28 and 219. Selector plate 2'7 is provided with a plurality of transversely extending siots in alignment with latch members 24, and the latch members carry upwardly extending pins 31, which are slidably re ceived within the slots 30, thereby permitting the latch members to execute outward movements independently of selector plate 27 while being shifted laterally by the movements of the selector plate. As shown in Fig. 4, a spring 32 has one end connected to end panel 29 and the other end to pin 33 on selector plate 2'7, so as to bias the selector plate to its leftwardrnost position as viewed in Fig. 4, thus, at the same time, biasing lat-ch members 24 to their normal position in which they effect the interlocking of tongue 16 with plungers ill.

Th ll Of, selector plate 27 extending through end pfl ll zs is provided with an outward extension 27a,

which is pivotally, connected by a screw at 34 to an operating air-r1135, which has its other end pivotally mounted on the outer end of a bracket 35 which is carried by panel 28, the pivot pin being shown at 37. Arm 35 is also provided, as seen more clearly in Fig. 6, with a lateral, or inwardly, extending camming lug or flange 38,

having an inclined camming face 33a, the purpose of which will s ibsequently be explained.

On side panel 28, adjacent arm 35 and camming lug 38, there isprovided a coin carriage 39, as shown more clearly in Figs. 6 and 10. Coin carriage 39 has two coin stalls 4,0and 41, for selectively receiving coins of different values. In the illustration given, stall 41 is adapted to receive five c'ent coins while stall 4b is adapted Coin stalls 4t; and 41 are arranged side by side to hold the coins in upright positions. Coin carriage 39 is shiftably mounted on end panel 28. by' having screws 42 extend through slots 43, thereby permitting coin carriage 39 to move forwardly along a line generally parallel to the line of movement of plungers 11.. i

The means provided for effecting the forward movement of coin carriage 39 in unison with the forward movement of one ofthe operating plungers it comprises operating shaft 44, which has its outer ends extending through upwardly inclined slots 45 and 46, respectively, in end panels 23 and Operating shaft 44 also extends outwardly beyond end panel 28, as indicated in Fig. 10, and'is received in slot 47 of coin carriage 39, so that the coin carriage follows the forward or outward movements of shaft 44 in slots 45 and As seen more clearly in Fig. 13, plungers llhave their inner ends provided with downwardly extending fingers 48 and 49, to provide a slot 56 therebetween for receiving shaft 44. The start of the outward movement of the plunger finger 48 engages shaft 44 and pulls it outwardly, so that it rides upwardly as guide by inclined slots 45 and 46 into slot 54) and is thereby interlocked with the plunger.

Coin carriage 39 is maintained in its normal rearward position by means of spring 51, as shown in Fig. 7, and one end of spring 51 is connected to the rear flange 29a of end panel 29- by bracket 52 and its other end connected to pin 53 which is carried by angular plate 54. The lower extension 54a of plate 5'4 is provided esteem 4 with a vertically extending slot 55', which receives the projecting end of shaft 44 and thereby spring 51 biases shaft 44 to its lowermost position in slots 45 and 46.

To assist in guiding and controlling the movements of operating shaft 44, each of its outer ends are provided with gear wheels 56, which engage the gear teeth on inclined racks 57. Plate 54, as seen in Fig. 7, also provides a teeth-equipped portion 54b, the teeth of which are engaged by spring biased pawl 58, so that once shaft 44 has begun its forward movement it cannot be moved rearwardly until pawl 58 has cleared the teeth on projection 54b.

As seen more clearly in Fig. 6, camming lug 38, carried by the intermediate portion of arm 35, has its inner end extending into stall 41 in front of the position of the five cent coin therein, but it does not extend into stall 40. Therefore, when coin carriage 39 is moved forwardly in unison with the movement of one of the operating plungers 11 and stall 41 contains a five cent coin, the coin therein will engage inclined camming face 38a and thereby cam arm 35 outwardly or away from the' coin carriage. The outwardly camrned position of arm 35 is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 6. Because of; the pivotal mounting of arm 35 on pin 37 and its pivotal connection to extension 27a of selector plate 2.7., the outward movement of arm 35 shifts the selector. plate and thereby shifts latch members 24 in the manner previously described. in other words, when a one cent coin is deposited in the vending machine and is introduced into stall 40, the outward movement of one of the plungers will dispense a one cent package of gum, while the deposit of a five cent coin and its presence in stall 41 will effect the automatic shifting of latch members 24, and thereby the outward movement of the plunger will dispense a five cent package of gum.

-Any suitable means can be provided for selectively introducing a one cent and five cent coin into the proper slot. In the illustration given, there is provided a coin ejector and feeding mechanism 5.), of well known construction, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Since the construc tional details and means of operation of this coin ejector and feeding mechanism are well known, it is not believed necessary 'to describe them herein. It should be sufii cient to point out that the insertion of either a one cent orfive cent coin in slot 12 by the operation of mechanism 59 will cause the coin to be selectively deposited install 40 if it is a one cent coin or in stall 41- if it is a five cent coin. If return of the coin is desired before the" starting of the dispensing operation, this can be accomplished, as is well known in the art, by depressing the coin ejector lever 12 which through link 60 will withdraw bar 61 and open the bottom of the coin stalls,s'o that any coin therein will fall into trough. 62 and be directed into the inclined gum dispensing trough" 63.

" It'is also important to provide. means for preventing the forward movement 'of carriage 39 when a coin is not in either stall 40 or 41', and this means should cooperate with the automatic shifting means previously described. In the illustration given, as shown more clearly in Fig. 10, there is provided a releasable catch member, consisting of a pivotally mounted arm 64, hav

ing a hook-shaped outer end 65, which is aligned with and normally engages shaft 44 to prevent its outward movement. Arm 64 also carries a laterally extending finger 66, which extends through both coin stalls 40 and 41 atthe top thereof, so as to be cammed upwardly the other two plungers inoperative during the dispensing movement of one of the plungers. In the illustrationgiven, as shown more clearly in Fig. 12, this is accomplished by means of sliding bars 67 supported beneath bedplate 17 by means of straps 68. The outer ends of sliding bars 67 are scarfed at 69 for engagement with the inclined faces of pointed portions 70 of plungers 11. For example, as shown in Fig. 12, the righthandmost plunger 11 can be drawn forwardly without shifting sliding bars 67 but after the pointed portion 70 on this plunger has passed the adjacent scarfed face 69, neither of the other two plungers can be drawn forwardly be yond the engagement of pointed portions 79 with the other scarfed faces on sliding bars 67. On the other band, should either the middle of lefthandmost plunger 11 be drawn forwardly, the sliding bars 67 would be automatically shifted to render the righthandmost plunger inoperative.

While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in considerable detail in relation to one specific embodiment thereof, for the purpose of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention is susceptible of other embodiments and that many of the details set forth herein can be varied widely without departing from the basic concepts of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a vending machine of the character described, a pair of vertically-extending storage chutes adapted to receive the same kind of merchandise but of different size packages, the larger packages being in one chute and the smaller packages in the other, means associated with each of said chutes for releasing packages therefrom, an operating member mounted for actuating said releasing means by movement thereof, means interconnecting said operating member and the releasing means for one or the other of said chutes, selectively, said interconnecting means normally interconnecting said operating member with one of said releasing means, means for shifting said interconnecting means to connect said operating member with the other of said releasing means during the movement of said operating member, a shiftably mounted coin carriage having two coin stalls for selectively receiving coins of two different walues, and means connecting said coin carriage to said operating member, arranged so that said coin carriage is moved by the movement of said operating member, :said means for shifting said interconnecting means in- .cluding camming means extending into one of said coin stalls and actuated by engagement with a coin therein, whereby the depositing of a coin in either of said coin stalls can automatically determine thepackage releasing means actuated by the movement of said operating member.

2. In a gum vending machine, a shiftably mounted coin carriage having two coin stalls for selectively receiving coins of different value, a pivotally mounted arm carrying a camming lug extending into one of said stalls for engagement by a coin therein to pivot said-arm when said carriage i moved outwardly, a slidably mounted selector plate having a spring bias toward one position and connected to said arm to be longitudinally shifted thereby to a second position, an operating plunger mounted for outward movement transversely across said selector plate, two ejector tongues mounted for outward movement generally parallel to that of said operating plunger, a latch member carried by said plunger and mounted to slide between two positions transversely across said plunger, said ejector tongues and said latch member having cooperating interlocking means arranged to interlock said latch member with one or the other of said tongues in one or the other of its two positions selectively, means interconnecting said selector plate and said latch arranged so that the shifting of said selector plate between its two positions shifts said latch between its two positions, and means interconnecting said coin carriage and said plunger arranged so that said coin carriage is moved outwardly by the outward movement of said plunger, whereby the depositing of a coin in either of said coin stalls automatically determines the ejector tongue actuated by the outward movement of said plunger.

3. The combination of claim 2 having cooperating.

therewith means for restraining the outward movement of said coin carriage when neither of said coin stalls contains a coin, said means comprising a releasable catch limiting the outward movement of said carriage and having a release lever associated therewith extending into both stalls of said coin carriage and positioned to be operatively engaged by a coin in either of said stalls during the outward movement of said carriage to release said catch means.

4. In a gum vending machine a plurality ofpairs of gum storage chutes, one chute of each of said pairs being adapted to receive one cent packages of gum, the other chute of each pair being adapted to receive five cent packages of the same kind of gum, an ejector tongue extending under each of said chutes and being mounted to slide outwardly to open the bottom of the chutes, an operating plunger for the ejector tongues of each pair of chutes mounted for outward movement, a latch member carried by each of said plungers and mounted to slide between two positions transversely across said plungers, each pair of said ejector tongues and the latch member on the plunger associated therewith having cooperating interlocking means arranged to selectively interlock the latch member with one tongue of the associated pair in each of the two positions of the latch member, a selector plate mounted for longitudinal movement between two positions across the latch members on said plungers, said selector plate being spring biased toward one of said positions, means interconnecting said selector plate and eachof said latch members arranged so that the shifting of said selector plate between its two positions shifts said latch members between their two positions, a coin carriage having two coin stalls for receiving respectively one cent and five cent coins and beingmounted for outward movement, means interconnecting said coin carriage and each of said plungers for causing said coin carriage to be moved outwardly with said.

plungers, and an arm adjacent said coincarriage having an intermediately-positioned camming lug extending laterally into one of said coin stalls but not into the other of said stalls, said arm having its inner end pivotally supported on an axis permitting said arm to swing away from said coin carriage, the outer end of said arm being connected to said selector plate, said camming lug being arranged to be engaged by a coin in the coin stall into which it extends during the outward movement of any one of said plungers to swing said arm away from said coin carriage and at the same time shift said selector plate to the second of said positions.

5. A combination of claim 4 having cooperating therewith means for restraining the outward movement of said coin carriage when neither of said coin stalls con.- tains a coin, said means comprising a releasable catch limiting the outward movement of said carriage and having a release lever associated therewith extending into both stalls of said coin carriage and positioned to be operatively engaged by a coin in either of said stalls during the outward movement of said carriage to release said catch means.

6. In a vending machine of the character described, a coin carriage having two coin stalls for selectively receiving coins of different values, said coin stalls being arranged side by side to hold said coins in upright positions, said coin carriage being shiftably mounted for forward movement in the dispensing operation of said machine, releasable catch means limiting the forward movement of said carriage, said catch means having a release lever associated therewith extending into both stalls of said coin carriage and positioned to be operatively engaged by a coin in either of said stalls during the forward movement of said carriage to release said catch member, a pivotally mounted arm carrying a carnming lug extending into one of said stalls for engagement by a coin therein to pivot said arm when said carriage is moved forwardly, a slidably mounted selector plate having a spring bias toward one position and connected to said arm to be longitudinally shifted thereby to a second position, an operating plunger mounted for forward move ment transversely across said selector plate, two ejector tongues mounted for forward movement generally parallel to that of said operating plunger, a latch member carried by said plunger and mounted to slide between two positions transversely across said plunger, said ejector tongues and said latch member having cooperating interlocking means arranged to selectively interlock said latch member with one of said tongues in each of its two positions, means interconnecting said selector plate and said latch arranged so that the shifting of said selector plate between its two positions shifts said latch between its two positions, and means interconnecting said coin carriage and said plunger arranged so that said coin carriage is moved forwardly by the forward movement of said plunger, whereby the depositing of a coin in either of said coin stalls automatically selects the ejector tongue actuated by the forward movement of said plunger.

7. In a gum vending machine, a pair of vertically extending storage chutes adapted to receive the same kind of gum but of different size packages, the larger packages of gum being in one chute and the smaller packages in the other, means associated with each of said chutes for releasing packages therefrom, an operating plunger mounted for outward movement to actuate said releasing means, means interconnecting said operating member and the releasing means for one or the other of said chutes, selectively, said interconnecting means normally interconnecting said plunger with one of said releasing means, means for shifting said interconnecting means to connect said plunger with the other of said releasing means during the movement of said operating plunger, a coin carriage having two coin stalls for selectively receiving coins of different value, said coin stalls being arranged side by side to hold said coins in upright positions, and means shiftably mounting said coin carriage for outward movement in the dispensing operation of said machine, means connected with said plunger adapted to shift said carriage, said means for shifting said interconnecting means including a camming means extending into one of said stalls but not into the other and being arranged to be engaged by a coin in the coin stall into which it extends during the outward movement of said operating plunger to automatically shift said interconnecting means.

8. The construction of claim 7 in which hook means are provided for restraining the outward movement of said coin carriage, said means being adapted to be cammed out of restraining relation with said carriage when one of said carriage stalls contains a coin.

9. In a gum vending machine, a shiftably mounted coin carriage having coin stalls for selectively receiving one cent and five cent coins, a pivotally mounted arm carrying a camming lug extending into the coin stall adapted for receiving a five cent coin, said camming lug being arranged for engagement by said five cent coin to pivot said arm when said coin carriage is shifted, a slidably mounted selector plate connected to said arm to be longitudinally shifted thereby between a position for dispensing a one cent package of gum and a position for dispensing a five cent package of gum, said selector plate being spring biased to said position for dispensing a one cent package of gum, an operating plunger mounted for outward movement transversely across said selector plate, two ejector tongues mounted for outward movement generally parallel to that of said operating plunger, a latch member carried by said plunger and mounted to slide between two positions transversely across said plunger, said ejector tongues and said latch member having cooperating interlocking means arranged to selectively interlock said latch member with one of said tongues in each of said two positions, one of said tongues being adapted to release a one cent package of gum and the other of said tongues being adapted to release a five cent package of gum when moved outwardly, means interconnecting said selector plate and said latch member arranged so that the shifting of said selector plate between its two positions shifts said latch member between its two positions, said latch member also being spring biased through its interconnection with said selector plate to its position inwhich it interlocks with the ejector tongue adapted to dispense a one cent package of gum, and means interconnecting said coin carriage and said plunger arranged so that said coin carriage is moved outwardly by the outward movement of said plunger, whereby the depositing of a five cent coin in the stall adapted to receive coins of this value automatically shifts said selector plate and latch member during the outward movement of the plunger to cause the release of a five cent package of gum.

10. The combination of claim 9, in which said combination also includes means for restraining the outward movement of said coin carriage when neither of said coin stalls contains a coin, said means comprising a releasable catch limiting the outward movement of said carriage and having a release lever associated therewith extending into both of said coin stalls and positioned to be oper-atively engaged by a coin in either of said stalls during the outward movement of said carriage to release said catch means.

No references, cited. 

